FAQS

 To develop a research plan...

Pick Your Topic

• If you have a list of topics from your instructor, choose from that.
• If you need to pick something on your own:
  • Read our answer to: How can I choose a topic to write about?
  • Use a database like Points of View Reference Center to:
    • Identify popular topics (they provide a browsing list of over 200 topics)
    • To find background information (including keywords, broader terms, narrower terms, and related terms).
    • To find a variety of opinions (point/counterpoint and pro/con information) on your topic.

Limit Your Topic

• The size of the topic you pick should match the length of the paper you are writing.
• Example topic: Thyroid disorders (book length!)
• Example limited topics for shorter papers

• Whether or not thyroid patients should use generic drugs rather than brand name drugs for treatment.
• How doctors can better diagnose thyroid disease.
• An examination of the autoimmune syndromes related to thyroid disease and why they seem to be more prevalent in women.

Identify Keywords and Combinations

• Identify the words or phrases you should search.
• Do a little background research to identify keywords (related terms) from the literature (Points of View is great for this)
• ​Thyroid disease possibilities
  • More specific: Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism
  • More general: Hashimoto's, Autoimmune disorders
  • Related:
    • Thyroid and nutrition, thyroid and gender, thyroid and treatment, thyroid and diagnosis, thyroid and drugs
• Identify Boolean Operators to use to combine your terms

Identify Resources to Search

• See What is a Good Way to Find Resources for Research? for suggestions